QuickBooks Pro - The Good, The Bad...
July 29, 2013
QuickBooks Pro - The Good, The Bad...
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
2012 Release R14P
Overall Satisfaction
- You do not have to be an accountant to use this software, although a basic understanding of the principles of accounting will keep you from making some mistakes, the software does a very good job of notifying you when you do something non standard or wrong. Just about anything you do can be undone fairly easily.
- Intuit has done an amazing job of opening the software up for third party developers, there are few accounting packages that have anywhere near the number of addons that can tailor the software the way you want.
- A properly setup and used system will make it very easy to and less costly to do taxes. In some cases you may not need a tax accountant to do your taxes, although I prefer it as a check and balance to my work.
- The ability to send notices such as Invoices, Statements, etc and also integrate with Microsoft Office make it easier to handle collections and stay on top of maintaining cash flow.
- The attachment of scanned or other documents types makes it easy to check the work of others and puts everything in one place so you don't have to go searching through mounds of paper for that odd invoice you need to pay.
- Out of the box some vertical applications such as Construction accounting are lacking. Some of the Job Cost Reports are not in a format that will work for a larger construction company. Third party applications though quickly make up for this discrepancy, but you may find yourself paying more for the application than the original QuickBooks.
- You must implement workarounds for collection and reporting of "Usage Tax" (required in my state - North Carolina, for purchase of products bought online).
- Handling of a bounced check has always been cumbersome and confusing in QuickBooks but it was fixed in the 2013 version.
- I have run into many clients that do not understand how to clear some of the batch printing of forms such as Invoices and Statements and as a result they can build up hundreds of pending documents. It would be nice if Intuit provided an easy one step process to clear such problems.
- Reduced cost, stress, and complexity for completing and filing tax returns.
- Clearly see where to attack expenses that are eating into profits through the many reports built into the system.
- A clear picture of what's going on in your business provided you are using the software correctly.
- One stop for all accounting documents, no need to store some information in spreadsheets or other documents.
Product Usage
- We use QuickBooks Pro for managing the company books for a small consulting business. We manage hourly billing and product inventory sales.
- Maintain paperless copies of every transactions by associating scanned documents with the type of transaction, for example a bill from a vendor or a Software License for a client.
- Provides Accountant with all the reports he needs such as Cash or Accrual Basis Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance and General Ledger for completing our tax returns. Documents are easily sent to him as PDF's or Excel Spreadsheets.
- Track import client information in a secure database, information such as Licenses, Passwords, Equipment List, Systems Settings, etc.
- Mileage tracking for vehicle business deduction.
- Year to year comparison of companies health and growth.
Evaluation and Selection
QuickBooks Pro 2010
Implementation
- Implemented in-house
I did have my Accountant review my GL (General Ledger), best way to start out right!
Training
- In-person training
Support
No - I am very knowledgeable with QuickBooks and I found there are very few things I cannot fix.