I purchased Quicken for Home & Business which was advertised as being able to handle everything for a small business. However, as soon as I attempted to enter an inventory item it said that it couldn't do inventory and I must upgrade to QuickBooks. However, QuickBooks doesn't seem to have any upgrade deal so it apparently means buying one package only to find that I must now pay full price for a second package. Realistically how many hours does it take from opening the package to when I can have accounts setup and understand what I'm doing? Currently using MS-Money for Home & Business and it took only two hours. But MS-Money doesn't have good inventory tracking. Is QuickBooks good for inventory tracking? Which version of QuickBooks should I get for a home business with 500 different inventory items? I don't have any payroll to do.
Is there a money-back return for Quicken? (There is for QuickBooks.)
If you can set up MS-Money in 2 hours it may take slightly longer for QB, but not much. But no-one will guarantee that you "understand".
QB is just fine for basic inventory. Any version can easily handle
500 inventory items. But maybe your business has unique features that you haven't mentioned and which would not be satisfactorily handled by QB.
Maybe you've learned from your Quicken experience - you should do more research than just reading one line of advertising text, "everything for a small business." Or the questions I've answered here. A short hands-on trial is one way, but it can be time-consuming. There are websites and magazine articles that review and compare accounting software. Even the QuickBooks site offers a fairly detailed list of features that might be helpful to you.
Unfortunately, the only real way to see if the software is capable is to buy it. I've already invested in Peachtree, MS Money, Quicken and others. Spent a lot of money. All say they will do it and the reviews all say the software is great. I guess it's a matter of perspective. I'd like to be able to track the history on individual inventory items, see how many of each item has sold over the past month, 3 months, etc. MS-Money won't do that. Peachtree says it'll do it but only if I buy and learn Crystal Reports after what I've already spent. Peachtree is also not user friendly to a non-accountant. I tried a demo of Simply Accounting and that has slightly more inventory capability than MS-Money but not much. Will QuickBooks track individual inventory items with history or does it only display an overall view?
You can buy QB2006 (various versions) off the shelf at stores like Staples, OfficeMax, Best Buy, etc. They all come with a 60-day money-back guarantee from Intuit. If it's not right for you, you can just return within 60 days and get a full refund.
If that is the report you want from QB, you may need export to excel, which at least QB will do for you, and do some data massaging in excel. Or see if there is a 3rd party report solution available.
None of the basic accounting packages are good for much in the way of management accounting reports, they are good for tax accounting reports which is what 99% of the people looking at basic accounting programs want.
I'm using QuickBooks basic 2002 and I get the following report from an item/inventory item
Type Date Num Name Memo Qty
carpet in stock Sand Castle Sandpiper On Hand As Of 12/31/20 4 470.48 Sales Receipt 2/25/2005 4607 Vey, Heather Sand Castle... -300 Sales Receipt 3/18/2005 4578 Ralph, Vey Sand Castle... -60 Sales Receipt 4/1/2005 4624 Bishop, Kevin Sand Castle... -282 Bill 4/1/2005 764346/ Beaulieu Canada Sand Castle... 27.25 Sales Receipt 4/15/2005 4640 Dimitrova, Maria Sand Castle... -360 Sales Receipt 7/8/2005 4822 McLean, Kathy Sand Castle... -477 Sales Receipt 7/8/2005 4825 Clinton, Alison Sand Castle... -360 Bill 10/1/2005 902278 Beaulieu Canada Sand Castle... 1,181 Tot On Hand As Of 12/3 2-Jan 5 -160.27
Total carpet in stock -160.27
Is that the kind of report you're looking for? When entering sales you have to create items which can be non-inventory or inventory type. Of course your type would be inventory, as the above report, and so in the report you get sales and purchase information.
Recently in Canada QuickBooks did away with the basic version. they brought out a lite version which does not have inventory or payroll. You need to purchase the Pro or Premier version to get inventory. I don't know whether this is the same for the U.S.
Bob, I think that's exactly my point, "the only real way to see if the software is capable is to buy" (or at least use a demo or trial). But there ARE websites and magazine articles that show which programs have little or no inventory-reporting capability, you could have avoided wasting your time with Money and Quicken. And, as 2 of us have told you, QuickBooks has a money-back trial program. QuickBooks, Money and Simply have Demo versions.
MS-Money and Quicken are NOT "accounting" programs, they are primarily "personal financial management" programs which **MAY** be used for very small and very simple businesses. It was naive of you to expect them to provide any meaningful inventory reporting.
I also think its naive to expect accounting software to be user-friendly to non-accountants, but the makers advertise it that way and we're all a little gullible.
I haven't used Peachtree in a long time since it was discontinued in Canada many years ago, but I'm surprised that it can no longer provide what seems to be fairly basic reporting; I thought it could do that about 10 years ago. Maybe you're looking at a "light" version, or an incomplete set of modules? I hadn't noticed that QuickBooks dropped its Basic version, maybe Peachtree did the same.
You've spent a lot of money and time already. Have you considered consulting an accountant? Any competent accountant with small-business experience could have told you in a couple of minutes not to bother with Money or Quicken. Unless your business has unusual features that you've not mentioned, another 15 minutes might be sufficient to tell you whether Peachtree, Simply or QB will do the job.
Have to disagree. Everyone knows that if you already know how to write a check then you already know how to use QuickBooks.
In every review I have read comparing Peachtee to QuickBooks (as a CPA I have access to a shit load of professional mags.) the one area that Peachtree excels in over QB is inventory functionality. If I have to believe anyone I will put my faith in the professional reviewers and not the OP.
I've been using MS-Money for Business since 2003. This is not the typical home version of MS-Money. It can do inventory but doesn't give me as much tracking as I'd like. On the other hand, Quicken for Home and Business was advertised as being capable for business and it has no inventory functions at all. Having used Intuit's software before, you are correct, I was foolish to believe them. Thus my caution in buying Quickbooks. Software sellers will say anything to sell their product, and Intuit seems to be more creative in their marketing than some of the others.
The problem is that the professional reviewers know how to use the software and the OP doesn't. The proof of the pudding is in what will work for the end user, not for the professional reviewer. If a normal non-account user can't use software that is this complex, then its functionality is zero. Well, that's where I am with Peachtree. Their marketing says easy to setup. Well, yes...for a professional reviewer, not for the end user. So, believe who you will believe. It all depends which end of this thing you're on and how much accounting knowledge you have.
I was talking about functionality not ease of use. Then again there are end users and then there are end users.
The entire marketing direction for the Peachtree product line is that it is geared towards the more sophisticated user. Sage goes out of their way to tell any future buyer of this fact. They are not trying to hide the fact that Peachtree is an accounting software product. Trained accountants are not turned off by products that are made with them in mind.
You must have received different advertising in the mail than I received. I had two years of college accounting and I can do a complete set of books with paper and pencil on a journal and ledger. If I had some software that would mimic the paper version, I'd be all set. I know what I want to debit and what I want to credit. The problem is in getting the software to do it. With computer programs, it's a case of trying to figure out what the programmer intended, not how to keep a set of books. Maybe I'd be better off setting this up in Excel instead of trying to second guess a computer programmer.
I'm not in manufacturing. Inventory come in the back door and goes out the front unchanged. Income is from three sources: music lessons, instrument repairs and merchandise.
Thanks for the suggestions. Osborne does have a good series of books. I'll visit Amazon.com and have a look at what they have. Thanks for all the suggestions and information from everyone.
I didn't realize that you already have 2 years of college accounting, can do a complete set of books, etc.
To me, this is a no-brainer. You can buy the full version of QuickBooks off the shelf and it definitely comes with a 60-day complete, unconditional, no-questions-asked money back guarantee. If you don't like it, you just return it. The last deal I saw on QB2006Pro at Staples was $179 ($20 instant savings off the $199 retail price) plus you get a $20 gift card for Staples -- so the cost is $159.
I am not an accountant or a bookeeper. When we started using QuickBooks, we started with QB 4.0 I think (around 1998). This was for a small nonprofit organization. We had no money and no clue about accounting and bookkeeping, but we were able to get it up and running. A woman in our office who had no accounting or bookkeping background figured out how to set it up and use the software. We didn't even know what a chart of accounts was, so we made some errors in the setup based on our lack of knowlege of what's an asset, what's a liability, etc. -- really basic stupid stuff. Later she took a 1-semester Accounting 101 class, and after that we were fine.
My point is that you already under way more than even just the basics of accounting, so I'm sure that when you try QuickBooks you'll have no trouble getting it up and running immediately. Just go through the programmed "interview" process for setting up your type of business -- seems like a service and retail sales business, I think. You'll know right away if the program is right for you. If it's not, just do the money-back guarantee. This is one type of software package where it doesn't matter that you already opened the package and installed the software -- you still have 60 days to return it for a full refund. So, if you go out and buy it this morning, I'm sure you will know by the end of the day if it will do what you want.
I have been no fan of QuickBooks over the years. I go back pretty far in this newsgroup to the days when there were staunch QB/Intuit groupies here, and staunch anti-QB/Intuit people here. Mostly, I always thought QB/Intuit did a lot of sneaky deceptive things in the way they marketed their products. But lately, it seems like that got that part straightened out and teverything is more straight forward without all of the deception. And, the initial price of the program used to be $299 + or -, and now you can buy the full program (not an upgrade) for $159.
So, again, why keep going over this? Why not just plunk down the $159 and try it? Unlike your other ventures into this area, you can easily get your money back if you don't like it. And, maybe after you try it, you can post back here how it's working out for you.
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