Quicken auditability?

I have been given a copy of Quicken 2001 Basic to review and encouraged to adopt it. I am doing bookkeeping for a small non-profit corporation. Setting aside for the moment any discussion of whether this is an appropriate package for my business application, I have the following question...

It seems that, in the long past, I read some discussion to the effect that Quickbooks was 'auditable' whereas Quicken was not. I believe the term 'auditability' was used in the sense of: 1) "auditable" = a program so constructed that entries posted couldn't be 'corrected' or modified without leaving an audit trail of entries made/modified/reversed/etc.and 2) "not auditable" = a program so constructed that entries posted could be modified without leaving an auditable trail.

Does anyone know anything about this issue. I apologize in advance for what is probably an ignorant question. I did conduct a search back through the last few thousand posts and didn't find anything.relevant.

Thanks for any insight Steve

Reply to
Steve Seale
Loading thread data ...

Quicken is not "auditable".

Reply to
John Pollard

Hi, Steve.

In my opinion, this is a very great weakness of Quicken - when used for other than first-party accounting. :>(

By first-party accounting, I mean the way I use Quicken. I keep my own information on my own computer for my own use. Nobody else sees it, unless I choose to show it. Even the IRS does not see my Quicken; they see only tax returns that I create from Quicken reports. If they insist, they can see my Quicken, but they will be much more interested in the checks and other documents from which my returns were repaired

If I were keeping your books and showing you the reports, that would be second-party accounting. In your case, you are bookkeeping for the corporation and showing the reports to its officers, directors, members, lenders...and probably others. I've been retired for about 15 years but, as a practicing CPA for 30 years during which I performed many independent audits of businesses and other organizations, I never knew who was going to read my reports because I never knew who my client would show them to. So I had to be sure that everything in the report was backed up by permanently accessible "books and records". In that case - and in your situation - there are at least 3 parties: the bookkeeper, the entity whose books are kept, and anybody else who may see the books or reports made from them. The auditor's duty is not to the client, but to the readers of the audit report (something that Enron's auditors, for example, sadly forgot).

For first-party accounting, Quicken is quite adequate. I can easily change any words or any numbers at any time, leaving no trace of who did what when - just like if I were using pencil and paper. If I want to make up a lot of deductions or leave out a lot of income, I can. Nobody cares but me. They care about my tax return, but they don't care about my Quicken.

For second-party accounting, Quicken might be adequate, so long as mutual trust remains between the bookkeeper and the client. But if there is any dispute, there is no way to prove that the records haven't been improperly changed. Frequent printouts and safe backups might help, but mutual trust remains the only real safeguard.

For third-party accounting, Quicken is not adequate, in my view. So long as mutual trust remains, everything is fine. But if any party becomes suspicious of the bookkeeper, there is no way for the suspected party to prove honest dealing.

Remember that Quicken was designed as a "checkbook" program, and it still does a great job of that. Other functions (accounting, investing, taxes) have been added on over the years, but the foundation of the program was not really designed to support them. I've never used QuickBooks, so I don't know how strong its auditability is. But I know Quicken has none at all.

Off my soapbox now. As I said, I've been retired for a long time, but some subjects still trigger a response from me. ;^}

RC

Reply to
R. C. White

As always, RC, a very interesting post. Do you know of any software packages that are affordable that satisfy your 'third-party' criteria. I see that Peachtree Basic accounting is sometimes 'free' after rebates, and I've often thought of using that for my NPO organization that I am the treasurer of. As far as auditing is concerned, I give my auditor all the statement, bills, monthly Quicken reconciliation statements, and a transaction log print out.

Reply to
Andrew

John...

Thanks. Was poretty sure, just wanted another opinion.

Steve

Reply to
Steve Seale

RC...

Thanks a lot. Your analysis will help me in "discussions with others", so to speak, when I need to have them. Just so you understand, I'm not in favor of using this program for this purpose, it has just been "suggested to me".

Steve

Reply to
Steve Seale

BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.