I have used quckbooks and found it very difficult to navigate and very expensive to use online so I could access it when out of town. I discovered Freshbooks.com, a cloud accounting site, and have been very happy with them.

Hi Mere_wood,

I too found quickbooks to be difficult. I actually used my own software developed by a friend. It was great using custom made software. Had everything I needed to help me organize my finances. Good luck!

Melinda

I use MAS90 and like it but find it is not very common.

Quick books was great yesterday, today we rest on technology and in the cloud, in other words most people are using an online software they can access from anywhere and automate their process's right down to one click tax filing, I use outright.com there is a free version and you can upgrade as you grow or most of the larger banks are offering the service of book keeping, payroll and taxes for prices that range from free to $40 per month so if you have a biz checking account you should ask if the service is provided.

Hi All,

I'm new, just joined moments ago. In answer to who "uses QuickBooks here". I've been using it since the late 80s, I guess. Currently using the 2010 version and the MFG/Wholesale module. I'm comfortable with it and find it quite adequate for my small biz. I like the automation aspect of being able to email invoices and my accountant has an in-house expert if I run into a problem.

Just thought, I'd jump in with a little background and getting my "foot in the door" of this forum.  

I've been using QuickBooks Pro for a long time, and I like it, but the only other program I've used is M.Y.O.B., which was much harder to correct mistakes in. I have a small landscape gardening business, and what I like most about QB Pro is that I only need to enter my own and my employee's hours once, in order to generate both invoices and paychecks. It IS fairly expensive and Intuit is always trying to sell you more products and services, which is annoying. I looked at the online version of QB but it seemed to lack a lot of important features and, as others have pointed out, there are lots of free online accounting apps. I use TeamViewer if I need to access my data remotely.

I work for my husband HVAC company and am a 1 person office. We use quickbooks and also a program that we just bought by Desco called ESC. they intergrate together but you dont have to use both. Anyways..let me start by saying I have a degree in Psychology so accounting and book keeping is WAAAAAY out of my comfort area. I took two quickbook classes and read quickbooks for dummies from front to back. For me invoicing, setting up customers and purchase orders, and vendors..paying bill was easy and pretty straight forward. However Inventory and the initial set up i still have issues with and quickbooks if it is not set up correct initially can cause issues down the line..luckily the lady that taught the classes I went to helps me all the time and it a GREAT advisor.  I can give you her information if you would like. The ESC program I like alot better...it is expensive but it does soo much more in one program that my company needs.

In a nutshell the basics of quickbooks was easy, for me at least, but the background information and intial set up is what is a headache and the inventory setup and tracking can get confusing. It is also hard for me once i notice something on reports that does not look right to find the mistake that caused that...but that could be my lack of knowledge in the area and not a quickbooks issue. We dont use their payroll so I cannot comment on that.

I have been using QB's for since 2007. We thought we were set up correctly by our first accountant but that was not the case. We have been through 3 accountants and they have all said the previous did not know what they were doing. We are now on our 4th accountant and he is redoing 2008-2010 tax returns. He is not a quickbooks expert though. You need an accountant that will set you up correctly, show you the basic steps and check up on your entries about once a quarter. I did my own payroll in QB's which is not hard because I only had a few employees.

I've been using QB for years, and yes,  they are always trying to sell me something. But other that that I love the company.

I cant remember how long ago I started but I think it was the second year it came out. I took a coarse that lasted one or two days, and another one about ten years ago. I may take another one next year, but I'll never change.

I buy a new copy (usually says Pro or something but I've had Construction too) every few years. I just bought one early this year and I love it.

I would recommend it. Just plan on going to a course.

I have been using Quickbooks Pro since 2008.  I have found it to be a much more powerful accounting tool than many free programs but there is definitely a need to understand basic accounting principles in order to be accurate.  The most important thing is just to use it as it was designed.  Such as Create Invoice/Receive Payment/Make Deposit and not just randomly assign credits and debits to a ledger.  It's not rocket science but if you are in business pick up a book on Basic Bookkeeping/Accounting and familiarize yourself with it.  It's really the least you should do if you are serious about having a successful business.  Thereafter you can set up the program to work flawlessly and generate reports and be able to transfer and have your accountant work on your files with ease.  It's been a standard in many businesses and by accountants for years for a reason.  It is comprehensive and works well with their methods.  But like talking to any professional whether it be a doctor or lawyer or accountant it might be nice to have them speak in layman's terms but ultimately the methods and language must serve their purpose if they are to fulfill their task most effectively.

I have been using QuickBooks for about 12 years.  I use it myself for my business and for 95% of my clients.  I don't agree with QB marketing that suggests you don't need any accounting knowledge to use their program.  I guess you can use it without any knowledge but you are going to end up with a mess and probably pretty frustrated.  I have had clients use online programs such as Freshbooks and I do not like it at all.  The ones I saw were a mess and  the numbers were deceiving and incorrect.  It seemed a bit one dimensional like doing your taxes on Turbotax.  Overall, I love QB, although with anything, it is not perfect but they are making a lot of progress.  If you are going to buy it I suggest (as the many other suggestions above) that you get some training.  I'm sure there is a QB ProAdvisor nearby that you could hire.  Depending on your accounting knowledge and computer savyness it could take a little or a lot of time

I have used QuickBooks Online for about 5 years.  It started out with just the basics but they have added many features over the years and we love it.  Why, you ask?  Well, I travel and can get to my books online at any time since it is cloud based; it allows me to download from my banks, credit cards and sets up payroll and tax payments.  My assistant can also work from home and not always be in the office.  I have two businesses and get a discount from QuickBooks.  I looked at the PRO version but it was just too much stuff and too difficult.  The other thing we like is we can call them and get help if we need it and my accountant has her own access if we need her help.  Recently they added the ability for my clients to pay directly online as a EFT transfer and this has cut the turnaround by my largest client by about 11 business days!

I am using Quick Book for long time and It's the best accounting tool I ever use!!

Quickbooks is a great software package, but so is Sage. We use both for our clients, but Quickbooks by far is the most popular.

Used QuickBooks for over 10 years.  Reliable, easy to use and it works - does invoicing, emails, online transaction importing, tax integration.  Single user - easy and reasonable, multiple users a bit pricey.

A friend of mine runs a successful order fulfillment company. He wrote in a recent blog that QuickBooks is the most indispensible tool he uses. The blog article is "Beginner's Luck and Internet Sucess."

The link is karolmedia.com.wordpress.com

Chris

Hi mere-wood,

I am a CPA with a wide range of accounting software product experience both in my practice over the last 20+ years and inside businesses where I have acted as a CFO.

The software programs that I have used range from the first DOS programs that were written for the PC in the early 1980s to Microsoft Dynamics (big program) to the more current Windows based systems: Peachtree, QuickBooks, AccountEdge.

When I advise clients on what type of accounting software to purchase I ask two questions: 1) Where do you intend to be in the next 5 to 10 years and, 2) Are you looking to customize the software to your needs or are you just looking for a vanilla program out of the box. (I guess that is technically three questions!)

The first question is relevant because. If your business will always be a mom and pop small business that will never branch out to other cities or locations then QuickBooks, Freshbooks, AccountEdge will be fine for you. If your business is going to grow dramatically, then Peachtree will be the right choice because it is easily upgradable within the Sage product category.

The second question is self-explanatory.

Which to Choose?

I would stick with a desktop version. The cloud is advancing very rapidly, but I think it needs a little more maturing before it is ready for everyday use. By the way, I am what is known as an "Early Adopter" because I embrace almost all new technology items as soon as they are available. And while I have heard great things about QB Online and I have used it from time-to-time, it will need a bit more time.

How to Set Things up Right the First Time.

The key is to set up your Chart of Accounts (COA) correctly the first time. The COA is the skeletal structure of the Accounting System. Everything else is a little trial and error.

QuickBook

QuickBooks is as good as any of the other programs out there. It has a lot of bells and whistles.

And, the best part, there is a very active user community where you can get all of your questions answered.

I hope this helps you.

Stephen R. Hartfield, CPA

www.debitsandcredits.com

Hi all,

I've been using QB for well over 10 years and am at the 2010 version. I like the emailing of invoices this version supports. I us the manufacturing wholesale/retail module and it suits me well, although, I do not like the shipping interface as I have never found it an easy feature. I don't see the features offered in the more recent versions enough incentive to pay for the upgrade. I would think being long term users, as are many of the respondents here, QB upgrades would be offered at a more reduced rate.

If I may, I'd like to comment on this thread from the standpoint of one particular service Intuit sells, payment processing, which happens to be my area of expertise.  Intuit offers credit card processing thru a processing company they purchased some years back, Innovative Merchant Solutions.  The system works great, and integrates seamlessly with  QB software, which is fine and good. The only problem with QB processing as I see it is the widely accepted  myth that the propreitary QB credit card processing solution is the ONLY way to seamlessly integrate with their financial software, which many merchants appear to believe.  Years ago, this may have been the case, but this is absolutely untrue these days. The fact is, there are now several third party payment processing alternatives that integrate with QuickBooks as well as, and in some cases better than, the proprietary QB product itself, at significantly better pricing, due to the fact that third party providers permit users to use virtually any merchant account instead of the high priced  proprietary QB processor.  I see far too many uninformed QB advisors and CPAs doing their clients no favors by steering them to the QB processing solution.

I've used both Quickbooks and Freshbooks to help operate small businesses.  Quickbooks definitely has more accounting features.  It is very difficult to run any type of complex business using Freshbooks alone.  Many businesses that I have consulted with use both.  Freshbooks has a nice user interface and is great for sending invoices.

The Money Track
Independent Financial Advice & Personal Financial Planning

Hi,

I personally utilize both Quickbooks and Sage (PeachTree). To be honest, our virtual desktops handle QuickBooks much better than it handles Sage. I find Quickbooks beneficial, though difficult to navigate in the beginning.

I do, however, enjoy all I can utilize Quickbooks with excel so I can build pivot tables, graphs, cash flow charts, and all that fun stuff that an accountant has to do. I have dabbled in Freshbooks, but the instance I mention it to a client, they get edgy that it's not a name brand that they recognize. So for me, I just stay away from it for the client's sake.

I hope this helps!

Tran Nguyen

Accountant

Most of my clients prefer QuickBooks. I have used other programs such as Peachtree and Great Plains but find that QuickBooks is much more user friendly for small to medium businesses. Of course I provide Bookkeeping services to clients and generally handle the majority of their bookkeeping for them but my clients are able to navigate the program to pull the reports they need for management and planning purposes. By providing my clients with remote bookkeeping services they have more time to work on their business instead of being burried in mountains of paperwork and struggling to do their own bookkeeping. However, I still prefer QuickBooks over most of the other programs I have used and find it much easier to train my clients in the use of the program as well. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help!

jking@elitevirtualaccountants.com

615-688-7707

I have used the QuickBook. It is very easy to use. Very useful for the accounting and budgeting tasks. Newbies may feel some difficulties, but again, it is easy to use.