My accountant has strongly suggested I move my business-related financial accounting out of my personal Quicken file and into QuickBooks. It has been a slow process so far, and I have determined that I have not done a great job of separating my business finances from my personal finances.
QuickBooks 2010 was released yesterday. The software comes in a number of different flavors and the variety is a bit intimidating. I downloaded the QuickBooks Simple Start Free Edition in order to get started, but this edition of the software is limited to the point that it is insufficient for me. The Free Edition is limited to only twenty customers. In this version, there is no connectivity with banks. While a very basic business could get by with these features, even running websites requires something more robust. One feature I would have liked with the free version, or the $100 (on sale for $80) QuickBooks Simple Start, is the ability to enter my bills as I receive them.
If you’re serious about keeping your books, it looks like your best bets are QuickBooks Pro ($200 on sale for $160) or QuickBooks Premier ($400 on sale for $320). You can also find editions of Pro and Premier that allow more than one user to access your data at the same time for an additional price.
Intuit also offers one version of QuickBooks for Mac.
My accountant says he has a few clients who upgrade their version of QuickBooks every year, so in order to complete their tax returns, he must also upgrade every year. It looks like I’d be best suited for QuickBooks Pro but I want to do as much as I can in the free version of Simple Start.
There are too many flavors of QuickBooks to list, but you can find discounted prices on all Intuit QuickBooks products here.
Consumerism Commentary is an authorized affiliate of QuickBooks and Quicken.
Updated April 20, 2017 and originally published September 29, 2009.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Flexo: I’ve heard bad things about Inuit. Basically that they hold your data hostage and frequently charge you for updates, etc.. Right now I’m trying to find a business accounting package for my new business and I am steering away from Quickbooks for that reason.
I imagine that a blogger/website has trivial accounting. Just some invoices and revenue streams. No inventory, manufacturing, employees, etc. Couldn’t you handle that data recording even on a spreadsheet or one of the free packages? Since you have an accountant (why, by the way) then he could earn his money with the value added service of preparing the returns.
I’ve been using Intuit’s Quicken for several years. Yes, they want their users to upgrade to the newest version every few years, but I’ve never heard about them holding customers’ data hostage. With Quicken and QuickBooks all of your data are stored on your own computer unless you choose the Online Editions.
Unfortunately my accounting is a little more complicated than you described. The accountant I’m working with is familiar with the nuances of business structures and will likely save me thousands of dollars, but we will see.
By holding your data hostage I mean that it makes it very difficult to switch to a different program after you start with Quickbooks. I think you have to pay for an export tool or for a third party to do it. Basically once Quickbooks has your data you have to pay a ransom to get it out again.
Sounds like you might have a good accountant then if he’s helping you organize complicated structures. Tax laws are too crazy.
We have been using QuickBooks for our business and for our clients’ businesses for over 10 years. QuickBooks does not hold your financial data hostage. At any time you can create a financial report by month, week or day and export the data to Excel. In addition, if you wanted to change to a different accounting package, most of them can import QuickBooks data.
Intuit is in the software business, so of course they come out with a new version every year. However, they do not require that you update to a new version of QuickBooks unless you want to continue using certain features (payroll, e-mailing invoices, etc.) and then only every three years.
Regardless, if accounting is not your business, you will better utilize your own time to outsource your bookkeeping to a professional.
Hi Flexo,
It may be worth it to pay your accountant to handle QB for you. That’s what I do…after trying it myself and realizing it wasn’t worth my time.
I still have Pro 2007. I figure I’ll upgrade when my accountant tells me I need to. :)
If you’re reading this and you have employees, their payroll service is worth the monthly fee.
-Erica