Item: QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Rating: 1
Author: David Worrell

Overall Satisfaction with QuickBooks Pro

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

QuickBooks Pro is at the heart of the organization, but it is not directly accessible to folks outside of the accounting department. It is the only accounting / banking software in use and the only financial reporting software in use.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Connecting to Banks for Easy Download of Transaction Detail. QB is the leader in bank integration, and the "DIRECT CONNECT" feature is worth every penny that your bank will charge you (Typically $10/month).
Connecting to other Apps from Intuit and 3rd Parties. Intuit leads the way in getting 3rd party software companies to write apps that integrate into and/or synch with QBooks.
Eliminating Stupid Mistakes. QB Pro has built-in intelligence that can save you hours of heart-ache. Because it is a full-featured accounting software package, you can do nearly all accounting functions with it -- which also presents the opportunities for mistakes. But QB does a pretty good job of not letting you screw up some of the most important tasks.

Cons

Inventory -- no inventory functions are offered on PRO... you'll need PREMIER
Multi-currency -- again, not available
More than 3 simultaneous users -- not possible, sorry!
No Sales Orders, Estimates, Job Costing, Progress Invoices, or Change Orders

Return on Investment

NEGATIVE --- had to replace it with more robust version (QB ACCOUNTANT)
POSITIVE -- Getting accounting into a real accounting package will save countless hours and help you sleep better at night
POSITIVE -- when you retain the services of a real finance professional, having your books in QuickBooks Pro will give you the best possible reporting and management tools.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions,QuickBooks Online,QuickBooks Premier

I do not recommend QuickBooks Pro for any user.... QuickBooks PREMIER / ACCOUNTANT is my go-to solution.

Likelihood to Renew

Overall the features of PRO are just not enough to run a great company with good reporting and smooth accounting. If you're serious about getting your finances organized, step up to PREMIER or ACCOUNTANT. The small additional investment will be well worth while. And for truly world-class security and performance, please consider having your QuickBooks hosted on a virtual network. By doing this you will relieve yourself of the hassle, expense, and danger of making your own backups, protecting your QuickBooks files from viruses, and of course, getting hacked. A hosted platform will protect you from all of these things and make your QuickBooks files available to your team from anywhere in the world.

Likelihood to Recommend

QuickBooks Pro is never my first choice. Even when inventory and multi-currency are not an issue, you'll find that the reporting and management tools available from the QuickBooks ACCOUNTANT version are far superior. You'll spend a bit more now, but you'll save 100 times more by having faster, more efficient tools, reports, and insights for managing your data.

Comments

Please log in to join the conversation

Skip the Pro and Pony up for Premier or Accountant

Software Version

Modules Used