small business accounting software

[leslie826]

My DH runs a small remodeling company. We've always had someone do all of our accounting with our taxes at the end of each year, but it is definitely time to get a program and keep up with the books ourselves. Is Quickbooks the way to go? Buy the program outright or their pay-monthly version? If we buy outright will we need to buy again each year? TIA for any help!

 

[WheelCEO]

For my latest business, I moved over to quickbooks and I highly recommend it. I bought the program outright.

 

[laurafergie]

I have used Quickbooks Pro since 1996, my DH is in construction also. It is an awesome program and has everything you could need even if you are set up as LLC, Chapter S, Inc, Sole Proprietorship etc..

I do recommend educating yourself - take an accounting class at night or online so you understand the basics of accounting.

 

[Taja]

QuickBooks is a good option. They have a contractor version, which is a bit more detailed for job costing. But you can make the regular QuickBooks Pro do the job.

I would recommend purchasing it (you should be able to get a good deal on the current version now). They usually support it for three years, so you would need to upgrade it periodically. Unless you're doing payroll and using their tax tables, you don't really need to update it every year.

As a PP noted, take a basic bookkeeping course, if you haven't already done so (it helps if you know what a "normal" balance for different types of accounts is) and invest some time in learning what QB can do.

Check with your local library to see if they offer QB courses online. Our local library offers them online at different levels--for free!

There are others--Quicken and Peachtree, but QuickBooks is used by many CPAs and will aid in your tax preparation. They can upload/download your data, review your entries and use the financial statements for your tax returns.

 

[auger]

Started our small constr bus in 05 w/ QB Pro 2005 and have used it ever since.
We have not even upgraded from the 05 version.
I would never pay for their services.
It's too easy to do yourself.
If yours is a small operation, I would not put the $$ into the contractor version.

 

[Pakey]

I'm an accountant and use Quickbooks for my husband's business. I have used it for 20 years.

 

[anabelle]

I love Quickbooks . It is very easy to use. If you buy it outright, and use assisted payroll you update it every two years.

 

[chrisrkeller]

If you are looking for a free, easy to use and flexible accounting program alternative you can try Profitworks' Easy To Use Accounting Software.

If you search in google for it you will be able to find it.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

If you plan to still have your taxes prepared professionally, ask your CPA what he/she recommends. At the firm where I work, we have some clients that use Peachtree and others that use Quickbooks. However, our in-office program that we use for tax prep and for our accounting also has a client bookkeeping system that makes our job a LOT easier come tax time. When our clients ask for our opinion, we suggest that program because not only is the program user-friendly, it works seamlessly with ours, and cuts down the client's tax bill. Ask your CPA for their recommendation - it may help you in the long run.

 

[mel&me]

Been using QB pro since 97, started using QB premier in 05. Premier has some things that work well with my business that pro don't have. I just upgraded to 2011 accountant verison. The accountant version is a master copy, can toggle to any version of QB's. And I bought it almost $120 less the 2011 premier contractor version right from QB's website.

 

[Bildmouse]

We use Quickbooks and find it easy to use. Fortunately I have a Quickbooks expert that I can call if I need help and she will come out to take care of any problems.

 

[AnjieNet]

I do accounting for several small businesses and both Quickbooks and Peachtree are very user friendly and their customer support has been superb on the few instances where I've had issues with the software.