OT: QuickBooks or something else?

[josephr]

my parents own some rental property and have asked me to take it over...currently they just run a checkbook system....half the time there's no receipt other than the returned check from the bank....granted is pretty easy to do it that way...but, times are-a-changin' and if I'm going to do it, I'd like to keep a better watch on the numbers and figure out ways to leverage the investments rather than just be an income stream.

I know we've got more than a few small business folks here...wondering if you guys use QuickBooks or something else? Preferences and why?

[RyanH]

Quickbooks is probably close to what MS Office is in the word processing world. Most tax accountants will know how to use it, which will be helpful during tax time. The online version is also fairly affordable and you get access anywhere, backups, and automatic sync with online accounts a la Mint.com

[Llewellyn]

MYOB. They have basic package that should be fine for your needs as you won't need payroll.

Very intuitive, even for people from a non-accounting background

[11.4]

If someone else will ever be auditing or making entries in the books, go with Quickbooks. Simply put, everyone knows it and a QBB file can be sent to just about anybody and opened on their own computer. Not to say it's the best but it's complete and it's universal. And there's a huge body of online help out there to deal with any questions that come up or to help with your own particular implementation.

For small businesses, the overlooked step of setting up accounting software is to think out what your chart of accounts (list of account categories) needs to look like. The better you nail it, the easier it is for years to work with the system. Creating or customizing one is very easy in Quickbooks and you can borrow a bunch of COAs from other related firms (it's just the list of items, without any financial data, that will show up on your balance sheet, income statement, etc. -- and the categories into which you drop ledger entries and keep them sorted so you are communicating relevant info with your financial statement).

I'm generally not a fan of the online Quickbooks. If you start with online, it's difficult to port it to resident software on a computer. It doesn't have all the functionality that the software does. It's a bit limited in your ability to archive and download (you're trusting in Intuit to keep it safe), ad it's a pay stream you have to keep incurring forever (and if you stop, you have problems gaining access to your records). CFOs and auditors tend to be on the conservative (i.e., luddite) side of things, and this is an area where they really don't want to have no control over records. The online offering arguably lets you access it equally well through both Mac and PC, but it only does it as well (and really not quite) as the Mac version, which still struggles to be even roughly equivalent to the PC.

If you really want to run a one or two person operation, most of these observations don't apply and I'd think about a Mac accounting application and use it on a local computer. There are several that are quite effective and work well without being cumbersome at all. For that matter, you can actually use Intuit's Quicken or a Mac equivalent like iBank and get most of your needs accomplished without going to a real business application. Depends on how advanced you want this to be.

[oldpotatoe]

my parents own some rental property and have asked me to take it over...currently they just run a checkbook system....half the time there's no receipt other than the returned check from the bank....granted is pretty easy to do it that way...but, times are-a-changin' and if I'm going to do it, I'd like to keep a better watch on the numbers and figure out ways to leverage the investments rather than just be an income stream.

I know we've got more than a few small business folks here...wondering if you guys use QuickBooks or something else? Preferences and why?

I used QB BUT when it came time to upgrade, my computer would not accept the newest version so....

[oldfatslow]

Xero is beautiful, easy to use online accounting software for small businesses and their advisors. The Company has over 400,000 paying customers in more than 180 countries around the world and over 1,100 employees. Xero is listed on the NZX and ASX. See www.xero.com

[Bob Ross]

I used QB BUT when it came time to upgrade, my computer would not accept the newest version so....

Isn't a new computer cheaper than a QB update these days? :banana:

[shamsixnine]

Transferred to Quickbooks online earlier this year. So far very happy with it. Simple, affordable, familiar to accountant and my invoices seem to get paid quicker.

[josephr]

Thanks --- I like the idea of online as I'd never have to worry too much about upgrading the software or losing my data -- we have one laptop in the house that everyone uses (kids' school work, etc.) so not having to worry about backing up the information sounds like a nice weight off the shoulders.

The Xero looks nice...but to me, anything that widely accepted makes things easier to find help.

links to good user forums???? Good desk-side reference book?

Thanks!!!

[jmoore]

:subscribed:

[HenryA]

Unless you're planning on building a real estate empire, just keep it simple. That might be on paper, just like its being done now, or a very simple program that is free or very inexpensive. I like this:

http://www.splasm.com/checkbook/index.html

or this pro version:

http://splasm.com/checkbookpro/

If you're worried about losing something on your local computer, just print the reports out of the program and put them in your sock drawer or save them as .pdfs to another computer or your favorite storage method.

I have no faith on software as service or most cloud apps, other than that sooner or later it'll cost you in time, aggravation or money. May work great with a big IT department budget but for a one man band its not so great. IMO, its the easy way out right up until its not.

[RyanH]

I have no faith on software as service or most cloud apps, other than that sooner or later it'll cost you in time, aggravation or money. May work great with a big IT department budget but for a one man band its not so great. IMO, its the easy way out right up until its not.

I think this may be a bit unfair when you're talking about SaaS from a large corporation that will be around for awhile. Fear of what you can't see and touch can cause one to choose a less ideal solution.

For those of you advocating the desktop solution over web, can you answer yes to all of the following:


Are you conducting backups in a frequent enough manner that if data loss occurred, it would not be a royal PITA to fix?
Are your backups going to a hardware redundant device (e.g. RAIDed drives on a server)?
Are you taking backups off-site every day?
Are you testing your backups on a periodic basis to ensure they are working?


You say that SaaS is for corporations with large IT budgets, but in my experience, the opposite is true. Big IT budgets = host it yourself. Protection against data loss is something that many are not in a position to adequately protect against and that perceived premium of a hosted solution may be worth it.

[HenryA]

I think this may be a bit unfair when you're talking about SaaS from a large corporation that will be around for awhile. Fear of what you can't see and touch can cause one to choose a less ideal solution.

For those of you advocating the desktop solution over web, can you answer yes to all of the following:


Are you conducting backups in a frequent enough manner that if data loss occurred, it would not be a royal PITA to fix?
Are your backups going to a hardware redundant device (e.g. RAIDed drives on a server)?
Are you taking backups off-site every day?
Are you testing your backups on a periodic basis to ensure they are working?


You say that SaaS is for corporations with large IT budgets, but in my experience, the opposite is true. Big IT budgets = host it yourself. Protection against data loss is something that many are not in a position to adequately protect against and that perceived premium of a hosted solution may be worth it.

You're probably right. Or mostly right. But its always seemed for me that thinking about your backups is better than not. Even if its just thinking about the paper in the sock drawer.

As for the OP's situation, I would fear for reliance on having the one copy out on the interwebs and nothing else but the local shared laptop (if its on there at all). And all this for a job that might be only 50 pieces of paper done the old way by hand, stored in a manilla folder or big envelope.

[oldpotatoe]

Isn't a new computer cheaper than a QB update these days? :banana:

Almost, ain't cheap but no ability to do the 'online' gig altho as long as internet connection is reliable and secure, probably the way to go.

I think Potter, new owner, may eventually get to online QB/POS system.

[josephr]

As for the OP's situation, I would fear for reliance on having the one copy out on the interwebs and nothing else but the local shared laptop (if its on there at all). And all this for a job that might be only 50 pieces of paper done the old way by hand, stored in a manilla folder or big envelope.

This is what we're doing now...so, yeah, its not broken. QB online is $150/yr, so the cost adds up over time...not saying its a bad service, but if its going to make my job harder....