Small Business Accounting Software

[queenofthehive]

I am looking for advice on a software that is easy to use for a small business. Something that could keep track of billings (invoices/balances due), taxes, inventory, company expenditures etc... There are no employees so a payroll system is not needed. Thank you.

 

[mickeyboat]

I would recommend Quickbooks - it is so easy!

 

[Mouse7116]

I second quick books. Our local community college also offered a class on how to use the program which was well worth it for me so I could make sure everything was set up correctly. We have an accountant also and when it comes tax time it is easy to upload to her website out information or put it on a jump drive to drop off to her.

We have used it for 5 years now and had no need for the payroll feature either.

 

[laurafergie]

Quickbooks is the way to go. Using it since 1996.

 

[yoopermom]

I've done the books for my DH's small business for twenty years, and tend to go back and forth between Quicken and Quickbooks for Home and Business. I like Quicken better, but since I keep our house accounts on it too, and I got it cheaper, I've been using the latter most recently.

Back up, back up, no matter what you buy !

Terri

 

[3boymthr]

Quickbooks is definitely the way to go. Very easy to set up and use. I actually work for several companies (all in different fields) and I go in and do their books using Quickbooks. One of the nice things about Quickbooks is it can be tailored to different businesses.

Quickbooks has a function to track inventory as well as functions for billing and attributing expenses to different jobs.

Quickbooks has a payroll function but you don't have to use it.

Even if you don't write many checks do spend the money and get the printable checks (you can get them from other places besides Quicken for less money just make sure the they say Quickbooks compatible). It will make your life so much easier. It will save time as you won't have to write the check then enter the check into Quickbooks plus when it comes time to reconcile your check book there is the possibility of Quickbooks and your checks having transposition errors. I'd also recommend getting the printable deposit slips if you have more than one or two deposits per month.

Quickbooks also has the ability to accept credit card payments and (if you set it up) send payments electronically.

The newest version - 2013 was just released. While the older versions are still available online, since you want it to help you with your taxes (and if you are not using an accountant) spend the extra money and buy this version otherwise you'll just end up spending extra money to buy the new 2013 tax tables.

 

[SarahKate]

I'm going to go against the grain a bit and suggest you looking into an app called Zoho. It's all online and the prices are reasonable. There is an app so you can check things and even send invoices and accept payments.

It may not meet 100% of your needs but you can at least take a look and even sign up for a freebie account just to see what you think. In addition to invoicing there are lots of other Zoho apps, many of which are free. CRM, project management, etc.

I have had a small biz but qb was just a little too much for my purposes. Zoho just seems more simple and it's very easy to use.

 

[dbarker]

I recommend QuickBooks. It is very user friendly. Their customer support is fabulous. You can easily "Google" how to do any / every thing in QuickBooks.

 

[3boymthr]

I'm going to go against the grain a bit and suggest you looking into an app called Zoho. It's all online and the prices are reasonable. There is an app so you can check things and even send invoices and accept payments.

It may not meet 100% of your needs but you can at least take a look and even sign up for a freebie account just to see what you think. In addition to invoicing there are lots of other Zoho apps, many of which are free. CRM, project management, etc.

I have had a small biz but qb was just a little too much for my purposes. Zoho just seems more simple and it's very easy to use.

Zoho doesn't track inventory. (Though I think it's other features are pretty reasonable for a small business with only 1 or 2 employees).

Plus, this being the budget board, I feel compelled to point out, that at $240/year it's way more expensive than Quickbooks which is currently retailing for $179 until you decide to upgrade which could be yearly or you can go 8 years like my mother has.