I’ve been using Simply Accounting for a while now, and I’ve finally had it with them. The crap level of support they have for small business has pushed me to the point that I now need an alternate option.
SO…
I ask the dopers, what accounting software do you use? How steep a learning curve does it have? Support? (Do you need to upgrade every year or can you get by with it for several years without worrying about it?)
I don’t do payroll on it, but it has to be capable of multiple bank account recon and ideally be suited for service (rather than prodcut) based cash accounting.
I hate Peachtree. My husband, a CPA, says it’s a piece of shit. He says the same about anything that doesn’t cost thousands of dollars, though. He does agree with me that QuickBooks is a much better product than Peachtree, though.
QuickBooks is more flexible than Peachtree, I believe, and is easy to learn. You do have to buy the upgrade at least every 3-5 years. But you can buy QuickBooks at Costco (if you’re a member), so it should be cheaper than Peachtree.
I’ve used QuickBooks for over 10 years; I’ve been stuck dealing with Peachtree for the last year & a half or so (not my choice; the company’s attorney likes it, and he’s a partner). So I do have experience with both.
I have always used Quickbooks. However a friend of mine used PeachTree because she says it is more customizable. I don’t know if this is true, but that is what she told me.
Our accountant suggested Quickbooks Pro because he used it and could intergrate my disks into his computer. So I used it. It is a very good program and can do amazing things.
However, I’ve found a lot of CPA’s use Peachtree and swear by it. I’d go with Peachtree for the intergration because (I think most) CPA’s use it.
Just my opinion though.
Here are a couple of examples of why I hate Peachtree:
In QuickBooks, I had no problem posting the receipt of a refund check from a vendor. In Peachtree, I had to spend a good deal of time & effort on coming up with a workaround that would let me do so, because apparently the geniuses that designed the product never thought that such a thing might need to be done. See, Peachtree thinks that if a vendor credits you, you apply it to your vendor account or against a vendor invoice in all cases. Well, you (being a cash-basis user) might have a little problem with that, now, might’nt you?
Second point: Peachtree makes you open & close accounting periods each month; QuickBooks doesn’t. What this means to you, the user with multiple bank accounts to reconcile, is that when your bank statements trickle in after the first of the month for the prior month, you will have to remember to open & close the correct account periods to perform your reconciliations, and change back before posting anything for the current month. Maybe you’re perfect & would never, ever forget to change back before posting something. I have used the opportunity to express some rather vulgar sentiments toward the creators of Peachtree.
Also, I would need to see proof that most CPA’s use Peachtree to the exclusion of QuickBooks, because I’ve had no problem finding plenty of CPA’s that use QuickBooks.
well, peachtree and simply accounting are owned by the same company (sage) so I’m thinking peachtree might not be my best option (given its the parent company’s lack of helpfullness Im having a beef with).
Anyone have any other suggestions? So far Quickbooks seems to be the only option. (Not really finding any other offered through the staples here).
I used to use Quickbooks, it’s closely related to Quicken and uses the same checkbook mentality.
But when they abandoned support for the Mac, I switched to MYOB.
It had a bit of a learning curve (because I’m not an accountant) but they offer a free version to accountants, so yours can integrate with no problem. It’s nice and customizable, and after I got used to the few accountancy concepts that is incorporated, it doesn’t pose any problem anymore.
And from all accounts, it’s less of a headache than Peachtree, it’s aimed at small business owners.
Support is great, but of course you have to keep the support plan updated. which is a good idea anyway, because that’s how you keep the tax tables updated.